VANCOUVER — Mounties are warning Metro Vancouver residents about a scheme that has tricked at least six people into thinking their loved ones had been kidnapped.
Police say the cyber crooks seem to be targetting female Chinese nationals who are attending school in the Vancouver area.
Police say the students were first contacted through an automated message telling them to contact Chinese officials because their personal information was compromised and they were now connected with crimes in China.
If they didn't co-operate, they were told their families back in China would be harmed.
While that is going on, police say the students' parents back home were contacted and told their family member was being held against their will and then they demanded money.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Annie Linteau says China's consul general wants these students to know that if there was a legal case taking place that documents would be mailed to these people and no phone calls would be made to verify personal information.
